Think of this week's INCH Power Rankings like
rearranging the living room -- things look different, but
it's really just the same furniture in different spots. Denver,
which was idle last weekend, remains on top.
Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors
and staff rank the nation's top teams (along with a note for
each team).
| No. |
Team |
|
Of
Note |
| 1. |
 Denver |
— |
The Pioneers' toughest road stretch of the season starts
this weekend with two games in Madison against Wisconsin.
DU beat the Badgers five times in as many meetings last
season. |
| 14-5-3 (10-3-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Wisconsin, at Wisconsin |
| 2. |
 Miami |
 2 |
One week after being swept by Robert Morris, the RedHawks
earned their sixth series sweep of the season, beating
Ferris State twice in Big Rapids to improve to 8-0-1 in
CCHA road contests. |
| 15-4-5 (12-1-3
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Ferris State, 4-0; W at Ferris State,
5-4. THIS WEEK: at Alaska, at Alaska |
| 3. |
 Wisconsin |
 1 |
Playing his first games since helping the U.S. team
to the gold medal at the World Junior Championship, forward
Derek Stepan had a goal and four assists in the Badgers'
weekend split at Colorado College. |
| 13-6-3 (9-5-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Colorado College, 4-0; L at Colorado
College, 6-5. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver, vs. Denver |
| 4. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
4 |
Mike Connolly scored 3:43 into OT to give the Bulldogs
a 4-3 win over Minnesota State Saturday. UMD is 3-0-1
in the extra session this season and 5-0-9 in OT since
dropping a 2-1 decision to North Dakota on March 2, 2008. |
| 16-7-1 (12-5-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota State, 2-1; W at Minnesota
State, 4-3 ot. THIS WEEK: at Bemidji State, vs. Bemidji
State |
| 5. |
 Cornell
|
1 |
Despite missing several players from its regular lineup
and having up to 17 players affected by a flu bug late
in the week, the Big Red got three points in the North
Country and will have some time to recover before North
Dakota visits this weekend. |
| 9-4-3 (7-2-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Clarkson, 3-1; T at St. Lawrence,
1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs. North Dakota |
| 6. |
 Yale |
3 |
Yale re-dedicated its renovated Ingalls Rink in a daytime
ceremony then the nation's highest-scoring team continued
the celebration Saturday night by scoring eight goals
in a win over Brown. Five of Yale's goals came on the
power play. |
| 10-4-3 (6-2-2
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: L at Harvard, 3-2; W vs. Brown,
8-5. THIS WEEK: at Clarkson, at St. Lawrence |
| 7. |
 North
Dakota |
2 |
Minnesota's 5-1 win at Mariucci Arena Saturday marked
the first time this season that the Fighting Sioux suffered
a loss by more than one goal. |
| 12-7-5 (8-7-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: T at Minnesota, 3-3 ot; L at Minnesota,
5-1. THIS WEEK: at Cornell, at Cornell |
| 8. |
 Michigan
State |
1 |
The Spartans' loss and tie against Notre Dame this past
weekend looks even worse when considering MSU blew a 2-0
lead in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Irish in South Bend and
squandered a 3-0 advantage in a 4-4 draw in East Lansing
the next night. |
| 15-7-4 (10-4-4
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Notre Dame, 5-2; T vs. Notre Dame,
4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Ohio State, vs. Ohio State |
| 9. |
 Boston
College |
2 |
The Eagles played their first home games since Thanksgiving,
and whipped visiting Providence and Maine by a combined
10-2 margin. BC is 6-1-0 in its seven home games this
year, with seven more scheduled in the regular season.
Cam Atkinson and Joe Whitney had five points each this
weekend. |
| 12-6-2 (9-4-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Providence, 4-1; W vs. Maine,
6-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, at UMass Lowell |
| 10. |
 Colorado
College |
3 |
The Tigers scored six times against Wisconsin Saturday
to snap a four-game losing streak. CC had scored a total
of five goals during that stretch. |
| 13-8-3 (9-6-3
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Wisconsin, 4-0; W vs. Wisconsin,
6-5. THIS WEEK: at Alaska Anchorage, at Alaska Anchorage |
| 11. |
 Union |
3 |
With Bemidji State's loss at Niagara on Friday, the
Dutchmen woke up Saturday morning as the only team with
an undefeated record in conference play. Then they made
sure it stayed that way with a 3-1 win over Rensselaer. |
| 13-4-5 (7-0-3
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Renssealer, 3-1. THIS WEEK:
vs. Harvard, vs. Dartmouth |
| 12. |
 Ferris
State |
2 |
Bulldog fans worrying about this past weekend's pair
of losses to Miami should note that the previous time
this season their team was swept (Oct. 30-31 at Alaska),
FSU responded with a 10-game unbeaten streak. |
| 16-6-2 (10-4-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L vs. Miami, 4-0; L vs. Miami, 5-4. THIS
WEEK: at Michigan, vs. Michigan |
| 13. |
 St.
Cloud State |
4 |
By sweeping Quinnipiac this past weekend, the Huskies
improved to 5-0-1 against ECAC Hockey foes this season.
That'd be good for 11 points and seventh place in the
league standings, plus they own the tiebreaker against
first-place Union. |
| 14-7-3 (9-5-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W at Quinnipiac, 3-1; W at Quinnipiac,
3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota, at Minnesota |
| 14. |
 Bemidji
State |
2 |
A 6-4 loss at Niagara Friday ensures that the Beavers
will not run the table against its College Hockey America
rivals in the circuit's final go-round. BSU steps away
from the CHA this weekend for a home-and-home series with
Minnesota Duluth. |
| 15-5-2 (9-1-0
CHA) LAST WEEK: L at Niagara, 6-4; W at Niagara, 4-3.
THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota Duluth, at Minnesota Duluth |
| 15. |
 New
Hampshire |
3 |
The Wildcats were 3-for-4 on the power play in its win
over Dartmouth. UNH has a 6-2-1 record against its in-state
foe in the nine Battle for the RiverStone Cup games. |
| 10-7-4 (9-2-3
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. Dartmouth, 5-2. THIS WEEK:
at Providence, at Boston University |
| 16. |
 Massachusetts |
3 |
The Minutemen swept their in-state rivals with a pair
of late goals. Michael Marcou scored with 2:19 left in
the third period of Friday's win and Matt Irwin potted
a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 1:07 left in Saturday's
win at Lowell. |
| 14-8-0 (9-6-0
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 3-2; W at
UMass Lowell, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont, vs. Vermont |
| 17. |
 Lake
Superior State |
NR |
The Lakers, who at one point this season endured an
0-5-1 stretch, are 8-1-3 since Thanksgiving following
a sweep of Nebraska-Omaha this past weekend. The next
four weeks for LSSU--Notre Dame, a bye week, at Miami,
Ferris State. |
| 14-8-4 (9-7-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 2-1; W vs. Nebraska-Omaha,
5-4 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame |
| 18. |
 UMass
Lowell |
5 |
The River Hawks held a 24-8 shots advantage through
two periods of Saturday's game, but went 0-for-5 on the
power play through 40 minutes. They were whistled for
five minors in the third period, including two in the
final two minutes, in the one-goal loss. |
| 12-9-2 (6-6-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Massachusetts, 3-2; L vs.
Massachusetts, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, vs. Boston
College |
| 19. |
 Maine |
3 |
Maine was without two key players over
the weekend - goaltender Scott Darling and defenseman
Robby Dee missed the games due to injury. |
| 11-9-2 (8-6-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L at Boston College, 6-1; L at
Providence, 3-2. THIS WEEK: vs. New Brunswick (Ex.), vs.
US NTDP Under-18s (Ex.) |
| 20. |
 Vermont |
NR |
Talk about a rebound, after losing Friday Vermont posted
a nine-spot Saturday that featured a hat trick by Brayden
Irwin and the most goals in a game by the Catamounts since
December 2, 2000 – a 10-2 win over Holy Cross. |
| 11-7-2 (5-6-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: L vs. Northeastern, 3-1; W vs.
Northeastern, 9-2. THIS WEEK: at Massachusetts, at Massachusetts |